The
Serbian Empire (
Serbian: Српско Царство,
Srpsko Carstvo) was a medieval empire in the
Balkans that emerged from the medieval
Serbian kingdom in the 14th century. The Serbian Empire existed from 1346 to 1371.
History
Stefan Dušan, before he came to throne as king of Serbia, proved himself as a very talented battle leader, who proved himself in the
battle of Velbazhd, where Serbia heavily defeated the
Bulgarian Empire. As his father wasn't really an able conqueror, Dusan, with the help of Serbian nobility, removed his father from the throne, ordering his people to strangle him. The medieval Serbian state reached its apex in the mid-14th century, during the rule of
Stefan Dušan, who proclaimed himself in
1345 emperor (tsar) in
Serres and was solemnly crowned in
Skopje on
April 16,
1346 as "Tsar of
Serbs and
Romans" by the newly created
Serbian Patriach Joanikie II with the help of the
Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon and the
Archbishop of Ohrid, Nicholas.
Stefan Dušan also introduced
Dušanov Zakonik (
Dušan's Code,
1349), a juridical achievement unique among the European states of the time. Emperor Dušan opened up new trade routes and strengthened the state's economy. The Serbian Empire flourished, featuring one of the most evolved countries and cultures in Europe. Some of Serbia's greatest
Medieval arts were created during this period, most notably St. Sava's
Nomocanon.
Emperor
Stefan Dušan doubled the size of his former kingdom, seizing territories to the south, southeast and east at the expense of
Byzantium. He did not fight a single army in the field, instead winning his empire by besieging cities. He was succeeded by his son
Stefan Uroš V, called the Weak, a term that might also apply to the state of the empire, as it slowly slid into feudal anarchy. The combination of sudden conquest, backwards administration, and failure to consolidate his holdings led to the fragmenting of the empire. This is a period marked by the rise of a new threat: the
Ottoman Turkish sultanate gradually spreading from
Asia to Europe and conquering
Byzantium first, and then the other
Balkans states. Too incompetent to sustain the great empire created by his father, Uroš could neither repel attacks of foreign enemies, nor combat the independence of his nobility. The Serbian Empire of Stefan Uroš fragmented into a conglomeration of principalities, some of which did not even nominally acknowledge his rule.
Stefan Uroš V died childless in December
1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been destroyed by the Turks in the
Battle of Maritsa earlier that year.
Emperors
